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Post by thesnowleopard on Feb 4, 2018 23:53:43 GMT -5
I liked the direction and acting better than the writing (which was a bit pants). Was fun to see Rowena again and surprised to find Sam's moping understandable this week. I'm guessing there's more to her resurrection than she's telling. The witches, though properly horrific, were paper thin and kind of a drag. Though the fight choreography was good this week.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Feb 4, 2018 23:50:51 GMT -5
The Brothers and Rowena (in the backseat) arrive in Stillwater, OK. Rowena says that her tracking spell on the book really only works for general location and when it's moving - and it's stopped moving. They have to ask around to find the sisters. She offers to interrogate the locals herself, but the Brothers point out that her methods tend to be extreme and fatal. Or extremely fatal. Take your pick.
Sam offers to babysit Rowena in the car, while Dean goes out and does interviews. Rowena makes a final suggestion - that Dean talk to the woman. She says she's pretty sure "these girls aren't popular with other women." We see Dean quickly process this and nod, taking the suggestion on board. Rowena doesn't insult Dean by asking him if he knows how to talk to women about other women. She knows he can talk to women about all sorts of things. After all, she (and we) are pretty certain he lied about not remembering the conversation she had with him in "Regarding Dean" about Chuck and Amara.
Cut to Castiel and Lucifer. Castiel is entertaining the demon, Dipper, by insulting Lucifer. But this turns out to be a trick. When Dipper goes to mock Lucifer, Lucifer yanks him up against the bars, then reaches through them (despite the sparks) and stabs him in the neck with the stick. This somehow breaks the warding, both on his door and Castiel's. The demon turns around and gets smote by Castiel.
Naturally, more demons show up, but Lucifer and Castiel somehow have angel swords now, so this ought to be a short fight.
In the car, Rowena is bored and asks for music. Sam points out they only have Dean's hard rock collection. Exasperated, Rowena says that surely she can "enslave" a few townspeople to tell them what they need to know.
Sam: I'm pretty sure you can. I'm also pretty sure you shouldn't.
Rowena: Bless your precious little heart. You just described my entire life.
Ah, Rowena, how I missed thee.
In a surprisingly thoughtful moment, Sam gently tells Rowena that even if she gets hold of the book, it won't help. She'll still feel "helpless." Rowena at first doesn't want to talk about it (her fear of Lucifer is quite genuine). Then she gets teary and admits the scariest part of Lucifer's burning her alive and crushing her skull - "he showed me his face. His true face. I'm scared, Sam. All the time."
At that point, Sam admits that he's seen it, too, and it "still keeps me up at night." When she asks him how he deals with it, Sam admits that he really doesn't. Mostly, there's always a new world-busting crisis, so he just "pushes it down" (much like his brother with his own traumas). He could talk to Dean, whom he knows would listen, but for whatever reason, he never does. In a weird way, I think Sam may actually find comfort that Dean would listen, even if he never unburdens himself to Dean, just as he and Rowena find some comfort in unburdening themselves to each other in this scene. Awww.
Dean goes into the same hardware store where Jamie and Jennie were earlier and he encounters the same clerk who called them out on shoplifting. She's skeptical at first of his intentions (though she definitely likes the tall drink of water standing in front of her), but when he makes it clear he's there for revenge not love, she has no problem whatsoever giving up the address of "the Plum sisters," whom she also calls "a whole mess of trouble."
"You going to be really mean?" she asks.
"Yeah," Dean replies, in a tone with a whole lot of intent.
"'Cause somebody sure needs to be," she finishes, giving him the address. Can we see her again? I like her.
Sam is telling Rowena that it doesn't matter if she gets her power back, she'll always feel helpless, as Dean returns to the car. At that moment, Rowena gets out, claiming to need some fresh air. But when Dean rather stupidly says he has the address, Rowena gets a look at it and then tosses down a hex bag, shouting, "Manete! (Stand!)" before fleeing.
As the Brothers try to get the hex bag (and Dean calls Sam an idjit for letting Rowena get under his guard), Rowena goes to the address. There the two witches are arguing about their spell having gone wrong (the poor clerk is quite dead at this point, still smiling). Rowena comes in and growls at them about not waiting for her. Turns out she was the one they were supposed to call and she had them get the book for her, after telling them about the Winchesters and where it was. But they double-crossed her. Shocker.
Anyhoo, it turns out they already did the spell on their mother and brought her back as a mindless, violent, magic-proof zombie who goes after Rowena. As she barricades herself in another room, they think this is funny because ... well ... they're really dumb.
Sam finally manages to get the hex bag and Dean burns it. Then they go after the witches.
Meanwhile, Castiel and Lucifer are escaping from that old sanitorium the show is always using as a set. Lucifer tries to persuade Castiel to give him his grace, then tries to stab it out of him. Instead, Castiel stabs him, saying "This is me learning from my mistakes."
At their house, the sisters are still mocking Rowena when the Brothers enter. The sisters aren't terribly impressed by the Brothers' guns, but Dean unwisely tells them they have witch-killing bullets, so the sisters use a TK spell (one they just learned, I guess) and then go after the Brothers with a knife and a hammer and superstrength. Sam gets his ass kicked, though Dean holds his own pretty well against Jamie (and is even winning), until Jamie calls for help and Jennie hits him in the leg with her hammer.
But the sisters are distracted by Rowena shouting for advice on how to deal with a magical zombie, and Dean suggesting shooting the mother. When Rowena actually does, though, the sisters inexplicably keep going after the Brothers. This gives Rowena time to recover a bit and use an "Impetus Bestiarum" spell (the one she used on that poor prostitute in her second appearance) on them, then compels them to kill each other. Though looking a bit startled, the Brothers don't make any effort to interfere.
Still favoring his knee from the hammer blow, Dean insists they take the Black Grimoire back. As Sam goes to get it from Rowena, who whispers desperately to Sam that she can't "feel that helpless again." She then appears to leave empty-handed, but Dean watches her go with a considering look.
Back at the Bunker, Dean is still hurting and is disgusted at himself for having fallen for a love spell (didn't see any choice for him in the matter, but okay). But as they drink beers, Dean points out to Sam, "You do know Rowena is not our friend, right?" He then opens the book. The page with the spell on it that Rowena was seeking is missing, torn out. Dean wasn't fooled.
Sam admits he let her take it and that if she "breaks bad," he'll kill her himself. But he feels that if she encounters Lucifer again, he's on Team Rowena and wants her to be able to "make him suffer."
Dean accurately pegs this as part of Sam's depression. Sam says that Rowena's not the only one who "feels helpless." He admits that he started the season with a plan that involved Jack, but with Jack gone, he doesn't know what to do. Dean says calmly, "We'll figure it out." Sam asks how, when they have no plan? Dean just steadily says that the two of them will "figure it out." Sam looks less sure, but doesn't argue.
In the last scene, Rowena is kneeling inside a pentacle/devil's trap with candles. She recites in Latin, asking for her "voice" back and ending with "Fiam invicta!" (I am invincible!). She also cuts her throat vertically, though this doesn't kill her. As she bleeds from her eyes, glowing purple bonds surrounding her break and the candles gutter out. She smiles, totally healed, and then her eyes glow blue. Possibly not an angelic blue (though who knows? Maybe she said yes to Michael in the Cage and that's how she resurrected), but still a very unsettling color. Also unsettling is the smile.
Credits
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Post by thesnowleopard on Feb 4, 2018 22:47:47 GMT -5
Cut back to Lucifer (because sure, now that Rowena's back from the dead, what I wanted to see was more played-out Lucifer, but at least we get some Castiel mocking him, so there's that). Lucifer is trying to make a stick lift, though apparently unable to (hmm). Dipper comes past and tells Castiel Asmodeus has "big plans" for him once he returns.
Lucifer yells after the departing demon that alt-Michael will come over from the other 'verse and kill them all. We then get a very odd bit of infodump. Lucifer proceeds to As-You-Know-Bob to Castiel that no matter the version of Michael in whatever universe, Michael is ruthless and determined and tunnel-visioned and will get over to the SPNverse by sheer force of will.
This makes no sense for two reasons. One is that Castiel is also an angel and knows perfectly well what Michael is like. Yes, Lucifer has had an encounter with alt-verse Michael that Castiel hasn't, but Castiel hardly needs to pump Lucifer for info about what all versions of Michael have in common.
Second, if Michael is so scary and determined and blahblahblah, why is this universe's version of him still in the damned Cage?
Lucifer then starts talking about how much alt-Michael is torturing Mary and how it's like nothing he's ever seen. Dear Chuck, I am so tired of this show's ongoing obsession with comparisons of who got tortured the most.
Anyhoo, Castiel finally shuts him up with talking about Jack, how Jack is a lot like his mother and wants to do good, and how Jack resurrected Castiel from the Empty. Lucifer is so mad that he finally is able to TK the stick into the wall. Which gives him an idea.
Cut back to Rowena at the Bunker with the Brothers. Yes, she's in the Bunker. Also, she's pouring the three of them whiskeys. Which the Brothers are willing to drink. And nothing bad comes of it.
They ask her how she's still alive. She's cagey about just how (and they don't mention their encounter with Arthur and what he told her about the resurrection device she gave him). She just says that it took a very long time to heal this time round and she doesn't want to have to go through it again. She admits to having put a tracking spell on the book (hence why she's there now) and calls Dean "lover" (at which Dean looks less-than-nonplussed and Sam smiles). A joke about "fifth base" in which Rowena teases Dean about his being roofied and supposed lack of sexual expertise fails, though.
There's also a sad moment when Rowena finds out that Crowley is dead. It's a nicely gauged mix of emotions as she reacts with both anger and hurt. The Brothers' insistence that he died a hero doesn't comfort her, since she'd prefer a "living" (so to speak) son, "even one who hated me," to one who is dead and gone forever. Of course, there's her grandson, but he's in Heaven. Which she can't reach.
It turns out that what she's after is a spell in the book that would break a binding the Grand Coven once put on her. Needless to say, Sam and Dean aren't too thrilled about the idea of just giving her more power. But they do, in the end, agree to work with her to get the book back. And then they'll talk.
I should probably refresh everyone's memories that the Black Grimoire is the book of spells the Brothers "liberated" from the Cajun witches Rowena helped them defeat in "Regarding Dean."
I like this scene. Everyone in it is a thief, murderer and con artist, and they're all working angles. And yet, you can tell there's a shared camaraderie. When Rowena claims she's "changed," I find myself hoping she really has and I think the Brothers kind of do, too. The two MOTWs seem quite flat in comparison.
So, naturally, guess where we go next? A hardware store where the witches are trying to read the book they stole (they kinda suck at it) and magicking a staff guy. The younger girl, Jennie, seems to have the magical talent, though that's not saying much. A young African American woman working there calls them out on shoplifting, to which they respond with some downright nasty snootiness. Ooooh, burn.
They then read that they need a human soul for their spell, so they zero in on an innocent young stock boy. I'm guessing, from "Regarding Dean," they mean the spell the Cajun witches were using to try to resurrect their brother.
Back at a house, they're reading the book over the body of an older woman. Jamie shows Jennie a photo. They're in it with the woman. It's their mom. They have a discussion over Jennie's uncertainty whether she can work the resurrection spell and how much they miss their mother. This is probably intended to add some depth to their characterization, but between the Valley-speak and the references to how many people their mother murdered in her lifetime (and how many people they are willing to murder now to bring her back) the scene manages to generate no sympathy for them whatsoever.
We then hear a man's voice from the other side of the room. It's the poor stock boy, who is completely enspelled. Coolly asking Jamie if they still need that spell (Jamie, of course, says yes), Jenny strolls over the boy and stabs him to death. Then she walks away.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Feb 4, 2018 22:09:19 GMT -5
Sam's working at a table in the Bunker. Dean walks in from another room with some books from the MoL library he's found on otherworldly dimensions. He struggles with one called "Jour et Nuit," despite having no trouble with the Latin titles of the others, and Sam has to tell him it's French and pronounce it correctly. Either this is bad writing or the show's portraying Sam as pretty naive here, since Dean wouldn't have been able to determine that any of these books were about otherworldly dimensions unless, y'know, he could read Latin and French (and we already know he can read Latin). Which means he's just messing with Sam to get Sam to look through the books for a way to find Jack so that he can go out on a beer run.
Oh, and by the way, Sam is still in full-on Negative Nelly mode. Because it's halfway through the season and reasons.
There is also a brief discussion about how "Castiel" checks in every day, as we see Castiel in prison, being taunted by one of Asmodeus' demons. The demon (named "Dipper" for Idon'tcarewhatreason) also taunts Lucifer, who is annoyed that his jail cell is too warded for him to escape. For the moment. Boy, demons sure are stupid on this show, aren't they?
After the demon leaves, Castiel mocks Lucifer (because Colonel Sanders - sorry, Asmodeus - is so "smart" that he allowed his two captive angels to be in adjoining cells so they could plot their escape) and Lucifer tries to get Castiel to give him some of his grace so they can both escape. Castiel's not buying it, not even when Lucifer brings up his own grace-eating days. Castiel also mocks Lucifer when Lucifer calls Asmodeus his "weakest creation," even after admitting that Asmodeus managed to learn shapeshifting/illusion on his own. Castiel wonders aloud that if Lucifer is being imprisoned by his weakest creation, what does that make him?
Dean is returning from his beer run when he encounters the witches from the teaser in the parking lot (they sure do hang around liquor stores a lot). One sister is screaming for help for the other sister, then slips a hex bag in his coat pocket when he leans over the other sister to help and says the Latin words ("Aegrota amore") again. As with Dale, Dean's eyes glow pink and he becomes putty in the women's hands, kissing the "injured" sister at the first one's suggestion.
It turns out they know his name and were looking for him. Being under the spell, Dean does not see this as odd.
Sam greets Dean as he comes back into the Bunker. Dean is giddy and "twitter-pated" (his own words). He talks about being in love and would be charmingly goofy if the show weren't playing what is basically roofie-rape for laughs. Sam starts to realize this is not one of Dean's usual volatile moods when Dean takes out the Black Grimoire and starts to walk out with it, declaring that it's a "gift" for his new lady-love, Jamie.
I gotta give Sam credit here for twigging very quickly something's wrong and trying to handle Dean with kid gloves (since Dean, already volatile, can be extremely dangerous under a spell of compulsion like this). He mentions Becky and the love spell, but Dean starts to turn scary, all while smiling and sunny and basically channeling Clayne Crawford in <em>Lethal Weapon</em> (no, really; Ackles gets him just about dead-on). Sam manages to snag the keys, so Dean says he'll just walk. Sam tries to grab his arm, and that's when Dean whips around and cold-cocks him. Knocks him right out. He does say to an unconscious Sam as he walks off that he will give him an ice pack after he returns. Not even the strongest love spell seems capable of subsuming his brotherly instincts.
I have to laugh at the people who are complaining and wondering since when has Dean been stronger than Sam? Um, I dunno, since always? The only time Sam was able to beat Dean was when he was drunk on demon blood and Dean didn't want to fight him in "When the Levee Breaks." In fact, it was a major plot point that Sam was able to beat Dean under those circumstances when he never could, otherwise.
The other thing is that it's never been fully resolved how fully human Dean remains after a year in Purgatory and having the MoC. Chuck did say that Dean would be forever "tainted" by it and Dean did retain abilities specific to Amara in season 11. And we know Dean is still able to do things like fight multiple demons at once, which ought to be beyond human capacity.
Dean arrives back at the parking lot with the book. The sisters are smiling, though one of the girls grumps that they wanted the Impala, too (no shocker that was a no-go for Dean, even under compulsion). They were just discussing in Valley-speak whether to "make the call" and the younger one says she won't. They're just going to use the book for their own purposes and not call whomever they apparently stole it for.
They are about to brain Dean with the sledgehammer when Sam shows up in the Impala and comes out, gun drawn. But Dean attacks him and knocks him over as Sam tries to get the hex bag out (having figured out the situation pretty quickly, despite his concussion).
Then the sisters do a very, very stupid thing for which I lose all respect for them as villains - they just drive away. They don't try to kill the Brothers. They just leave.
Anyhoo, Sam gets the hex bag out (it's pink, of course), but before he can burn it, Dean starts to choke him out, while apologizing. But then the bag burns and the spell breaks in a pink flash. And Rowena shows up.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Feb 4, 2018 20:58:15 GMT -5
My collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle. The Kindle version is available through Amazon. The print version is also up. If you buy the print version, you get a Kindle copy thrown in for free. I also get paid if you get it on Kindle Unlimited (for free), read the Kindle version, or lend it to a friend via the Kindle Owners Lending Library. Just FYI. Starting now. Then recap of "Regarding Dean" last season and then bringing us up to speed with Lucifer's depowering subplot this season. I sure hope the last time we see Asmodeus this week is in the recap because bleah. Cut to Now on I-135 Just North of Wichita, KS. A guy named Dale walks into a liquor store and exchanges grunts with the store clerk (indicating they know each other). He sees two blondes giggling in the security camera and goes over to investigate. They are, of course, pretty blondes. And once one of them slips a hex bag in his coat pocket while the other one says a spell in Latin, he immediately falls in love. They then ask him where Lebanon, KS is (he says he's never heard of it, which seems unlikely) and then they con him into robbing the liquor store and giving them all the money and booze. He also kills the clerk, Marty. When he comes out, they brain him with a sledgehammer, because their mother always told them to make deaths "look non-magical" so as to avoid attracting the attention of Hunters. Which is fortunate, since these two girls don't look as though they've got a lot going on upstairs, in addition to being spree-killer witches. Also, the actresses are overdoing it just a tad. Cue title cards.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 27, 2018 0:09:52 GMT -5
Doug may not get that chance. As soon as they leave, Marlon attacks him, showing vampire teeth, and forces Doug to drink his blood. But not before being an asshat about Donna. Marlon really is too dumb to live. Or unlive, as the case may be.
In the back, Sam encounters the FBI guy and has him go in behind him. He gets clocked in the head by FBI Guy.
Meanwhile, as Dean and Donna close in, the clock starts to run out for Wendy. I'm just gonna interject here that I love it when these two hunt together. It's like the Doctor and Donna, but it's Supernatural and Dean has unresolved romantic longings for Donna.
The masked figure starts up some more R&B, but when Dean and Donna enter the room where it is, they find it empty with just a cassette player.
When they come back, they find Doug with fangs and Dean has to knock him out with dead man's blood to get him off Donna. Marlon unwisely decides to return to the scene of the crime (told you he was stupid). Dean says great, that will make it easy to get the vamp blood they need to cure Doug (Dean must know that cure by heart by now). Before he can behead Marlon (who honestly thinks he can take Dean - ha), Donna blasts out one of Marlon's knees and orders Dean to get the blood (Dean looks all tingly at Donna taking control like that). When Marlon bleats that she'll kill him, she says that's happening, anyway. The only choice is "fast or slow" and that depends on how fast he starts talking.
Sam wakes up strapped to a table in a very bloody room. FBI Guy (Clegg) is telling the guy in the mask to pull the camera back so they can get a full view of Sam. These MOTWs must be Sam stans.
So, Clegg says he recognized the Brothers from the Impala (really? And not the voluminous FBI files both brothers have?). He proceeds to supervillain monologue that there are hundreds of thousands of monsters out there (try tens of millions worldwide, as stated in season six, dumbass) and he's providing an important service for those who "pass." He says he serves them "people other people won't miss." If he didn't, they would just go nuts and the Brothers couldn't stop them. As if the Brothers were the only Hunters in the world or couldn't take out monsters en masse (as they have, more than once).
But no matter. It's an obvious bullshit excuse to mask the selfish desire to make pots of money off other people's misery. Sam calls him on it and tells him to go to Hell. Clegg, being rather naive about the ways of Hell, says he'll see Sam there and starts up the bidding for Sam, piece by piece. Clegg laughs at Sam's attempts to stall, saying there's no way Dean will get there in time to save him.
In the Impala, Dean is driving as they race toward where Sam and Wendy are (she's had a temporary reprieve thanks to Sam's auction). Donna is in the backseat, feeding Doug the vampire cure. When she asks Dean if it will work, he replies, "It worked on me." They have to leave Doug unconscious in the car while they go in.
I'm assuming Marlon's dead. Kinda sad we didn't get to see that.
Dean and Donna enter the warehouse all X-Files-ish and split up. Donna finds Wendy alive, but lets her guard down in her relief. Masked Teaser Dude attacks her, kicking her in the back with his signature move. She loses her gun. But Donna's a fighter. She grabs a pry bar and whacks him a few times. He loses his machete (might be a bolo). She picks it up and stabs him through the heart with it.
Meanwhile, Clegg, in a pig mask, is auctioning off Sam's heart to the tune of $500,000, while two werewolves avidly compete for it. He then says he normally cuts a heart out really slowly, to make sure it hurts, but with Dean out there (you know, the Really Dangerous Winchester as opposed to the Very Dangerous Winchester), he's gotta make it quick. He pulls out a gun and aims it at Sam's head. The camera angle strays and we hear a shot. Then we see blood coming out of a hole in Clegg's shirt and he drops, shot through the heart by Dean, who has just entered the room. Sam's look turns from horror to confusion to relief.
Later, Doug wakes up on a motel room couch, Donna by his side and the Brothers watching. Donna tells him Wendy is all right and in a hospital. Doug's been cured, but he doesn't feel better. Donna tries to reassure him and Dean tries to back her up, but Doug's having none of it. Not everyone can handle finding out about the supernatural world and Doug's part of that larger "blue pill" group. He leaves and Sam gives Donna Dean's old speech about how you can't let people get too close or they get hurt. Then he leaves.
Dean just puts his hand on Donna's shoulder while she cries. I know it's way too soon for her, five minutes after a big breakup like that, but damn, I am shipping Dean and Donna so hard right now. What is that, Deanna (yes, I know that was his grandmother's name)?
In the car going back to the Bunker, Dean points out that Sam was a bit harsh to Donna. Sam retorts, "When has knowing us worked out well for anyone?"
Oh, I dunno, Sam, you mean, besides the thousands of people you've saved over the years (and the billions who didn't have to deal with an apocalypse or five)? Dean points this out, but Sam's head is so firmly up his own ass that he actually brings up Kaia, of all people. Kaia? Really, Sam? You barely knew Kaia. And with those Bad Place creatures coming after her, she'd have died sooner than later on her own, anyway.
Sam then insists he's not "in a dark place," he's just being "realistic" and things really do suck. He starts whining about how things can only end "bloody" and "bad" for them both. Hate to break this to you, Sam, but it's unlikely Death and Chuck will be allowing your brother to die any time soon.
Credits
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 26, 2018 23:18:31 GMT -5
Meanwhile, Donna gets the preacher talking and mentions he flashed a young girl and picked up a young boy. He insists his wife knows and they're working through it, that he's weak, but not a bad person. When Donna pulls out the shirt, he gets scared and when she yells at him, "DON'T LIE TO Chuck!" he breaks down in terror and insists, sobbing, it's not him.
Outside the room, Donna and Sam agree that they believe him, while the FBI weakly protests about the evidence. Sam points out that the evidence could have been planted. Why would a criminal mastermind slip up like that after 12 years (well, Sam, you are a fan of serial killer narratives; they do get cocky and decompensate after a while)? Neither Sam nor Donna questions whether Mr. I've Been Chasing This Guy For 12 Years might have planted something in the preacher's van and they're a little too open about their theory in front of him for my comfort.
Meanwhile, Dean and Doug are "interviewing" Marlon. Marlon starts the interaction off by being his usual dick self. Dean cuts to the chase and smacks Marlon's head on the counter a couple of times ("how we do things in the FBI") until Marlon shows them a live feed of one Luis Fernando (the kidnapping victim before Wendy, according to FBI guy). There's a dollar number at the bottom of the feed and users on the side are bidding. It's a live auction.
As the guy cries and begs, the masked figure from the teaser starts to cut something off with the saw. Dean says, "They're selling him off, piece by piece." Unable to watch, Doug looks down and misses Marlon's smirk, but Dean doesn't. Dean recoils.
Dean and Doug call Sam and Donna, and have them watch the same bit of video. Sickened, Sam turns it off. Marlon snarks about Sam being "Vegan" and Doug smacks him upside the head.
"It's how they do it in the FBI," he comments and Donna glares sideways at Dean. She knows where Doug got that from.
The talk quickly turns to why this auction is happening. The comments on the side ("Yum!") of the screen indicate the guy was being cut up for food. "For monsters," Donna blurts out and then regrets it when Doug asks what she's talking about (there's a hilarious reaction cut to Dean, who is standing between them and doesn't seem to know where to look). Donna tells Doug she'll tell him later.
They interrogate Marlon, who shrugs and says he does it for the money. If he sees someone nobody will miss, he makes a call and gets some money. Well, Marlon, honey, you done screwed up this time.
Another live auction pops up. This time, it's Wendy. Donna looks sick and leaves the room. When Doug follows her, she ends up giving him The Talk. She admits that Sam and Dean aren't blood family but a different sort of fraternity altogether: "They kill monsters." They're Hunters and so is she.
Meanwhile, Dean is trying to get Sam to hack the cam, but Sam insists it's "dark web" stuff. Um...what happened to what Frank taught Dean?
Anyhoo, Sam suggests they call FBI Guy, who comes up with a location while Marlon just chills and listens. I'm sure that since we are now near the end of the episode's third act that absolutely nothing bad will come of this decision. [/sarcasm]
The Brothers rush off to the location (Wendy's vivisection will start in an hour). Dean tells Sam to go in the back, while he, Donna, Doug and Marlon go in the front. Inside, Dean and Donna go on ahead, while Doug hangs back to guard Marlon. Donna promises Doug she will explain everything to him when she gets back.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 26, 2018 22:46:13 GMT -5
Sam admits that he wants to help Donna, too, and Dean says he knows that.
Dean gets a call on the CB from a woman who says she wants to meet with him at a different diner than the one in the teaser at noon the next day. Dean goes off to talk to her and she tells him about the niece, Wendy's, entry into the cafe the other night. It turns out the woman was the trucker who passed Wendy by. She had been in a huge hurry and didn't feel she could stop. She said that needing to gas up was the only reason she even stopped at the truck stop because that place has always given her a creepy vibe. But now she feels bad about having passed Wendy by and wants to help.
As it turns out, she was the biracial woman with the mohawk who was sitting with the preacher. He's now being brought in as a possible suspect for the "Butterfly" serial kidnapper. The FBI guy shows Donna a piece of clothing that was on the guy, that she identifies as Wendy's.
When Sam and the FBI guy go into the interview room, the preacher insists he wants lawyer, even after the FBI guy roughs him up and Sam pulls the guy off.
But then Donna comes in. She starts off slow, talking about how lawyers aren't well-respected in the Bible, so why would the preacher want one? Then she revs up a bit to talking about how it's Friday and a small town and the preacher won't even get a public defender until Monday. He'll spend the weekend in a cell with some very rough types. Or he can answer her questions now and be out of there.
Meanwhile, Doug finds Dean and asks him about Donna (thinking Dean is her cousin). He says she's been distant lately, not her usual sunny, chatty self. Dean tapdances some more, this time around Donna's secret identity as a Hunter. You're welcome, Donna.
The two of them go to the teaser diner (which Dean is casing). There, they meet window-washer guy. Dean and then Doug ask him about Wendy. He admits he saw her. Dean hands him some money. He talks a lot more.
He says that the creep at the register--Marlon--quite fancied Wendy. After she left, he got in his car and went after her. Dean mmm-hmms cynically about this, while Doug looks a bit sick.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 26, 2018 21:53:28 GMT -5
When the Brothers show up, Donna is distraught, blaming herself for her niece's disappearance. The Brothers both reassure her it's not her fault.
Dean goes inside to find Doug (who is apparently dating Donna now) and encounters a shirty FBI agent right after he discovers the caltrop/shuriken in the niece's tire. Not even Doug intervening gets the guy to chill. Hmm.
Dean manages to lie his way out of it with the agent by saying he's the niece's family, but then has to tapdance out of lying to Doug about being Donna's cousin.
The FBI agent gives a meeting where he says this fits the pattern of a serial abductor who goes south for the winter. None of the victims has turned up since disappearing. Oh, and this has been going on for 12 years.
Dean offers to help, while Sam gives him ample bitchface via side-eye. Later at their motel, Sam complains that this isn't their kind of case and he's worried they'll get rousted by the "real" FBI. Plus, he thinks Dean's attempt to recruit truckers via CB to find the niece is stupid. Sam, what is this? Season one? Grow up.
But it does give Dean the chance to turn Sam's harsh pep talks from earlier in the season right back on his brother. Oh, sweet, sweet turnabout is fair play. Dean says they will power through as they always do. They'll find Jack and their mom. But for now, Donna needs their help and they're going to help her.
Go Dean.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 26, 2018 21:29:19 GMT -5
My collected recaps and reviews of season one, which first appeared on Innsmouth Free Press, are now up (with a few extras) on Kindle. The Kindle version is available through Amazon. The print version is also up. If you buy the print version, you get a Kindle copy thrown in for free. I also get paid if you get it on Kindle Unlimited (for free), read the Kindle version, or lend it to a friend via the Kindle Owners Lending Library. Just FYI. Starting now. Then recap of Donna stuff and (weirdly enough) Dean's very-ugly vampire cure from season six. Cut to Now and a cellar lab with newspapers of missing people on the walls and jars full of nasty stuff on the shelves, where a man is screaming for mercy and a bone saw is a cutting away as a masked, aproned figure with rubber gloves strolls past torture instruments worthy of the Spanish Inquisition. There's blood and what looks like a severed arm. And it's all set to 50s girl group The Chantels singing "Look in the Eyes." Cut to Oshkosh, NE at Manny's Truck Stop (missing an apostrophe as an injoke for singer/songwriter Jason Manns). A young woman is trying to get gas with her card, but the pump declines the card and tells her to go see the cashier. As she enters the gas station/diner, an assortment of late-night characters look up from their meals, including a preacher who has a van outside that says "Jesus Saves" on the back window. A creepy young man is reading about aliens in a newspaper at the register. The girl goes up to him and says the machine won't take her card. He takes that and demands her ID, as well, then hits on her bigtime. The creep is off the scale with this boy and she notices. Either he's a red herring or heavily involved in what was going in with the previous scene. I'm hoping for the former because he is naaaaaasssty. One thing we get from that scene is that her last name is "Hanscum," so she appears to be related to Donna Hanscum in some way. We get stalkervision of the girl as she pumps her gas and then she's accosted by one of the diner denizens (a long-haired, homeless-looking guy) who offers to wash her windows. She politely declines and flees in her car as he stares after her. But later, she has a very flat tire on Route 88 and has to stop. She tries to flag down a truck, but it blows right past her. She then discovers something that looks like a shuriken or a caltrop in the tire. Then she's attacked from behind by a guy in a mask, who beats her up some then drags her off, screaming. To her credit, she fights all the way. Cue title cards. Cue Sam moping in bed for a really long time. Dean pounds on the door, saying he's making pancakes because Sam won't come out. Then, at 10:00, Sam's cell phone rings. It's Donna. Sam brings it out to Dean. Donna says her niece (Doomed Teaser Gal) is missing. She knows this isn't the Brothers' kind of thing (well, they have gone Hunting for less), but Dean immediately tells her to text them address and they will come over.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 25, 2018 23:55:08 GMT -5
Was wondering what happened to you!
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 20, 2018 1:34:19 GMT -5
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 20, 2018 0:37:31 GMT -5
It was decent enough for a backdoor pilot (most of the cast gel well), but there were some huge cliches and missed opportunities. And I thought the twist was stupid.
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 20, 2018 0:35:30 GMT -5
Downstairs, Donna give Patience a (very) quick rundown on how to use a shotgun, but a whole bunch of creatures show up and the women flee upstairs. As Donna and Jody and the others hunt monsters, Claire goes into the rift with Kaia. Because let's not leave the one person who knows how to go other worlds back in ours, or anything.
In the Bad Place, Claire and Kaia immediately find and cut Sam and Dean loose, but when they all run back to the rift, the hooded figure tosses its spear at Claire and hits Kaia instead when she steps in front of Claire. They hold hands and Kaia dies (here at the CW, we bury allllll our gays, especially if they're WoCs!). The Brothers pull out angel swords, which the hooded figure apparently did not bother to take away from them (now they do? And what about their guns?), and Dean prevents Claire from going after the figure, who is now, you know, totally unarmed. The three of them flee back through rift, but not before some creepy giant CGI troll shows up and peers over the trees.
As Jody cradles Claire, Patience (who has finally made her first monster kill) realizes that was her vision and Kaia was the one who died.
Afterward, the Brothers leave, asking Jody to thank Claire when Claire is able to hear it. The adults worry about more rifts and more creatures, but Jody assures the Brothers that since they've got saving the world covered, she and the girls can take care of Sioux Falls.
Claire mourns and Jody has a talk with her. Claire finally realizes that going in half-cocked gets innocent people killed.
Downstairs, Patience is still shocked at having ganked something and Claire starts a journal. There's a cheesy voiceover from Claire about how she needs "my family...my army," and she's going to kill the thing that killed Kaia, as they montage at the dinner table.
Meanwhile, a big old rift appears again in Sioux Falls and through it steps the hooded figure, which pulls back its hood to reveal an evil, smirking Kaia, because killing off a redshirt character we've barely met and have no investment in, but who appeared to be a regular, and replacing her (it's frequently a her) with an evil doppleganger isn't a huge cliche at all.
Credits
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Post by thesnowleopard on Jan 20, 2018 0:13:05 GMT -5
Back at Base Camp, Kaia and Claire bond (more slashy overtones) over Kaia realizing Claire is scared. Claire admits that she's been shaken by Patience's vision. Why she's admitting this to Kaia, I just don't know. But when she declares that "Sam and Dean saved my life" and she has to return the favor, Kaia offers to come with. I know this is intended to make Kaia look heroic, but it sounds vaguely ridiculous: "I was a cowardly lion when those menz were around, but I shall follow you to the ends of the multiverse, fair lady."
Not helping is that the show's writers (who are downright obsessed with their meta) seem blissfully unaware that this whole storyline is an old and very sexist Western trope as old as the media hills known as "The menfolk are out on a cattle run/incapacitated, so it's up to the little ladies to save the day." And it's looking as though we're about to get the variation of "All the adults get themselves taken out, so now the kids have to save the day." You'd think the show would at least bother with a little more onscreen explanation about why these random characters all immediately banded together to find and save Sam and Dean, seeing as how it's still called Supernatural and the protagonists are still Sam and Dean.
On an upper deck, Jody and Donna find the rift. Jody wants to go in immediately because reasons - sorry, because she's afraid that if she doesn't go in right that second, Claire will and then will get killed. Or something. Points to Donna for thinking this reason is stupid, especially after Jody admits her thinking is clouded by not wanting to "lose another child."
This conversation is cut off by their hearing more rift creatures. Well, duh, if the rift is open and these things hunt in packs, it makes perfect sense that not only one crossed over, y'know?
The creatures, btw, are exceedingly cheesy when alive and look exactly like what they are - stuntmen in monster costumes.
Over in Monster Land, Sam wakes up at night and Dean, who is already awake, calls the figure with the spear "Darth Dickwad," even though it's pretty obviously a female figure. The figure bangs on a giant skull and the creature they heard before responds from a distance.
Meanwhile, Claire and the others are saddling up, while Jody and Donna are stuck inside an abandoned car. They're saved by Claire with a flamethrower. The others are just standing behind her, even though Jody warns that there's "another one."
Claire hears the hissing and immediately goes upstairs. Jody realizes it's closing as it starts to fade. Claire insists on going in to save the Brothers.
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